Thursday, May 07, 2015
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Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Gay Marriage isn't the problem
Dr. Stephen Baskerville makes the case that the current push for gay marriage is really just the result of a long push against families that started in the past, especially with no-fault divorce, as that fundamentally altered and degraded the role of fathers in society, and expanded the power of the state as a result.
From Henry Dampier who has additional thoughts.
G. K. Chesterton once suggested that the family was the main check on state power and that weakening it would destroy freedom. Chesterton was writing about divorce, and here another critical difference emerges between today’s debates and the way the issue was framed by Dawson and Zimmerman and theorists they cite. While homosexuality, abortion, pornography, and other cultural issues on today’s family-values agenda do appear in their writings, they are not central. The recurring issue throughout Western history that seems to be the most direct cause of marriage and family breakdown is divorce....
Given that 80 percent of divorces are unilateral, divorce today seldom involves two people simply parting ways.[10] Under “no-fault” rules divorce often becomes a power grab by one spouse, assisted by people who profit from the ensuing litigation: judges, lawyers, psychotherapists, counselors, mediators, and social workers.
The most serious consequences involve children. The first action in a divorce is typically to separate the children from one parent, usually the father. Even if he is innocent of any legal wrongdoing and did not agree to the divorce, the state seizes his children with no burden of proof to justify its action. The burden of proof (and the financial burden) to demonstrate that they should be returned falls on him.The reason for this is that intact families, and especially fathers that are present in the lives of the children, are one of the greatest checks on the power of the state.
From Henry Dampier who has additional thoughts.
Liberation Theology
The Communists invented liberation theology, according to an ex-Soviet spy.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/former-soviet-spy-we-created-liberation-theology-83634/
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/former-soviet-spy-we-created-liberation-theology-83634/
Male and Female
Genesis 1:27 says, "male and female created He them." The male-female dichotomy is part of the creative order from the beginning, and that dichotomy was there by God in the initial plan and intention for humanity. Humankind was to glorify God and represent God's likeness and image, and humankind does this as "male and female".
That refutes any possible normalization of homosexuality, polygamy, or transgenderism. It refutes the contempt, oppression, and abuse that men have so often directed toward women throughout history, but also refutes the rejection of gender distinctions and roles that is such a feature of our current age.
God made women to be female, to be distinct from men. You cannot claim to be pro-woman if you are not pro-femininity. This fact remains true both more men who hold women in contempt and women who hold their own femaleness, as God created it, in contempt.
More here, from Sunday's sermon.
That refutes any possible normalization of homosexuality, polygamy, or transgenderism. It refutes the contempt, oppression, and abuse that men have so often directed toward women throughout history, but also refutes the rejection of gender distinctions and roles that is such a feature of our current age.
God made women to be female, to be distinct from men. You cannot claim to be pro-woman if you are not pro-femininity. This fact remains true both more men who hold women in contempt and women who hold their own femaleness, as God created it, in contempt.
More here, from Sunday's sermon.
The Course of Revolutions
The Bolshevik Revolution was all about creating a just and perfect society in Russia. When they tried to implement this society, contrary to the reality of God's law and without the benefit of Christ's redemption, they inevitably failed. When they failed, rather than admit their error and change course, they blamed scapegoats, doubled down, and tried even harder to impose their vision on reality. Result- tens of millions dead.
Results...?
The Cultural Revolution was all about creating a just and perfect society in China. They tried to implement their vision without reference to God's law, contrary to God's truth, and ignoring the salvation promised in Jesus Christ. They inevitably failed as their dreams and plans clashed with God-ordained reality, just like the Bolsheviks. But rather than admit their fault and change course, they tried twice as hard, blamed scapegoats, and pressed on. Result- tens of millions dead.
In America and the West, we have likewise seen a revolution, an attempt to create a utopia. The sexual revolution is part of it, as is the War on Poverty, the New Deal, and all the rest of the welfare state. It is the attempt to overcome all the effects of sin, all the misery and suffering that comes from our refusal to acknowledge our Creator and accept the salvation and lordship of Jesus Christ. It is likewise failing. Wherever the statist utopian dream has been given the freest rein (Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago) the results have been disastrous. Terrible poverty, crime, and social dysfunction of every kind.
But this, true to form, has not caused the utopians to rethink their ways. They have doubled down, found scapegoats to blame for their failures, and continue to press on.
But this, true to form, has not caused the utopians to rethink their ways. They have doubled down, found scapegoats to blame for their failures, and continue to press on.
Results...?